Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service Podcasts.

Today we'll be talking about European cooperation in the fields of education and training.

We'll look at how it's evolved over the years and how it may continue to develop in the future.

So get ready for the lesson.

How you organise education and training is the responsibility of member states.

However, the EU plays a major role in making education more accessible across borders

and helping member states to modernise their education systems.

So they can better prepare their citizens for the future,

equipping them with the skills they need to become active,

responsible and engage citizens in a Europe that aims at being increasingly green and digital.

The best known examples of this European effort

are possibly the Bologna process that led to the

establishment of the European Higher Education Area and the Erasmus Plus program, which

encourages student mobility. The Copenhagen Declaration, adopted in 2002, aimed at improving the quality

and attractiveness of vocational training in Europe.

And in 2010, within the framework for cooperation in education and training, the AT 2020, the EU set itself some targets.

Now, 10 years later, there's no denying progress has been made on a few of them.

Denise Sheerkopp follows education issues within the European Parliamentary Research Service. I could mention three success

stories. First, participation in early childhood education of children aged for up to school

age rose by 5% reaching our 95% target. Second, the rate of early school leavers came down

by almost 4%, very close to our target of less than 10%. And third, tertiary education graduates

rose by 8% surpassing the 40% target. But the number of underachieving 15-year-olds remains high and the participation of adults in learning is still low.

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